If your church is preparing to send out its end of the year contribution statements, you’re not alone! Contributions are always a topic of discussion at churches during this extremely busy time of year. Sending out contribution statements can be easily managed, but there are some situations that can make this a much more in-depth process. Organization traditions or standards can present issues in the instance of separation or divorce within family units. So what is the best way to handle this type of situation when it comes to end of the year statements?
- Attribute contributions to the person that submitted the envelop or wrote the check
- Assign envelop numbers to all your congregation members, not just households
- Make congregational members aware of your policy
- Stick to the policy
Of course we are using our Church Office Online ChMS as the example program for this scenario. The above steps would allow your organization to best serve the needs of your members going through the difficult process of separation or divorce, and it would not cause a lot of extra work for your staff that works in the program. It is possible to delete and edit contributions to help individuals split their contribution information, but it is not an easy process. Using the above standards allows a church to still print “Household” contribution statements, and in the event there is a separation, then you can print individual statements. Using the standards outlined also allows the church to not have to re-manage contributions and introduce possible errors, especially if there happen to be a number of separations or divorces.
Our prayer is that separations and divorce do not occur in your church or organization and good data practices will allow to you quickly meet your member needs should they need to separate their giving records. If you need any additional information, feel free to contact us!
Thanks,
Church Office Online